Grandma’s Secret Dill Pickles ~ Recipe & Canning Tutorial

If you like a crunchy, slightly spicy, delicious dill pickle and like to can, this post is for you! The recipe for these pickles was handed down by my grandmother {who has been making them for as long as I can remember} and has ruined store bought pickles for me forever. In fact, when I was a kid in Germany, we used to take boxes of these pickles home with us on the airplane after our summer visits. The customs agents thought we were insane every time they inspected our pickles. I guess we’re really lucky they never broke!

I’m sharing this recipe with you because I love you. But you better not tell anyone else because these pickles are my key to fame and fortune! 😉

Grandma’s Secret Dill Pickles ~ Recipe & Canning Tutorial

To make these pickles, you need a lot of cucumbers. Preferably, straight, small ones (4-5 inches or so). I like to grow my own, but for whatever reason, I have not been successful growing cucumbers the last few years. These beautiful cucumbers were given to me by a friend and this is the first time I have been able to can pickles in several years. If you have any small, extra cucumbers, please send them my way!

Pack cucumbers very, very, very tightly into quart size jars. Squeeze in as many as you can because once they are canned they will all float to the top and make it look like you could have fit at least 50% more in! It never fails.

Put the lids on and tighten. Use pot holders because the jar will be really hot.

Put the cans into boiling water in a water bath canner and can for ~10 minutes, just long enough to help the jars seal. Remove jars from canner, make sure they seal, then let them sit for 24 hours to cool. After they’ve cooled completely, store them for at least three weeks before eating.

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About Michelle Marine

Thanks for stopping by! SimplifyLiveLove helps you live a healthy life on a budget so you can spend more on the things you love! If you like gardening, green living, healthy recipes, family fun and travel, you’re in the right spot!

Comments

Hi Michelle,
We're having our inaugural Eat Make Grow Blog Hop. We are looking for folks to link up who want to share what they have been eating with their families, growing in their gardens or making with all their creative impulses. If you're interested, I hope you'll hop on over and link up a couple of your posts. It's a way for you to grow your readership and find other like minded mamas.
Hope to see you there,
Foy
http://foyupdate.blogspot.com/2012/08/inaugural-eat-make-grow-blog-hop.html

So, how bad are they when you forget the alum??? I got distracted by my "helpers" and forgot the alum in 7 out of 11 jars (also was unable to find grape leaves at the local grocery store.) Are my pickles going to be terrible???

This sounds like something I'd totally do!! Argh! Alum is a pretty key ingredient as it's what makes them crispy. Grape leaves are optional - I've left them out before and the pickles are fine. You might want to open up the jars without the alum, add the alum, and re-seal them with new lids (you can re-use the jars and rings). I'm not sure if that will work, but the pickles won't turn out without the alum, I'm afraid, unless you like really mushy pickles. :-(

I just came back to get the recipe for this year and I had to let you know that my pickles were great!!! Even with out the alum!!! I am determined not to forget the alum this year and that means I better make more. Because if they get any better I won't be able to keep up with the demand!!!

man! i'm so jealous of everyone canning their pickles! i'm moving across the country in 2 weeks and since we pay the movers by the pound (essentially), i didn't can much this summer because canned food weighs a TON.... that being said, i did manage to make a few jars of bourbon soaked cherries for my drinks all year. haha. priorities, i guess.
p.s. it

Hi Bryan, It's 1/2 tsp alum per jar. The dill is sort of by eyeball. I just make sure I add a fresh dill flower that has lots of seeds on it as well as a lot of the whispy leaves that smell like dill. Sorry I don't have a good answer for you on dill.

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I'm a semi-crunchy Eastern Iowa mom of 4 crazy kids on a quest to stay sane and healthy. We try to live a sustainable lifestyle on 5 acres with chickens, dogs, rabbits & more! Grab some coffee or wine and hang out for a bit!

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